For Hire
by pessimistie
Summary: Spoilers. A few months after graduation, Raze goes to visit Ulrika. Possible Raze/Ulrika in future chapters
1. Chapter 1

"Ah!!!! I'm so bored!" The seventeen year old blonde whined as she set her head onto the table with her arms cushioning it.

"Uh!!" Uryu circled her head, "Uhh…Ulwuwika…"

Ulrika smiled and gently patted Uryu's head.

"Miss…if you're bored, why don't you play with me?" Pepperoni poked his head from the backroom of the shop excitedly, a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"What? Why should I? Stop slacking off and finish brewing the forest soup!"

Pepperoni pouted and went back in to the backroom.

Ulrika sighed, "Ugh, why aren't there any customers today? It's so boring…"

"Maybe, if you stop sulking and actually do something you wouldn't be so bored."

Ulrika's head shot up and turned towards the door, where a blue haired young man stood with a smirk.

"Huh?! Jerktown?! What are you doing here?"

Raze frowned, "So much for greeting customers with a smile."

Ulrika grinned, "Sorry, it came out wrong. What's up?" she stood up and walked closer to Raze, who just shrugged, "Well, I was in town and thought I'd see how you were doing." He patted her shoulder, "You haven't grown a bit."

She scowled, "Haha," she said sarcastically, "And your personality hasn't changed either it seems."

"Uh!! Wazawuxe!" Uryu landed on to his shoulder, smiling up at him.

He rubbed Uryu's head gently, "Good to see you too. You're getting used to the human language now huh?"

"Yeah!"

Ulrika pouted, "Hey! Since when were you two so friendly?" she pointed at Raze, slightly annoyed. "Anyways I'll let that 'not grown a bit' comment slide this time, only because you came to visit us."

"Uh! Uwuwika, don't be mean."

"Wha-what?! I wasn't being mean, I'm just-!"

Raze sighed, running his face across his face, "You're still as loud as ever I see…"

"Shut up! Look just…just sit over there okay? I'll get you something to drink."

She gestured towards the table she was occupying before and head towards the backroom, a scowl still plastered on her reddening face.

"Don't bother I'll be going soon."

"Soon. Not now right? Just sit down."

He shrugged (with difficulty, he had forgotten that Uryu was on his shoulder) and sat down at the table scanning around the small store. It was fairly big, enough to fit a few shelves, the counter and a few tables.

"We also run a café here too." Ulrika appeared behind him and placed two cups of warm tea on the table and a small bowl of soup for Uryu. "Here, Pepperoni made this."

Raze nodded his thanks, "A café? Is running a general store difficult in this area?"

Ulrika sighed, "I wouldn't say difficult, it's just…" Raze looked at her, waiting for her to continue, "Well…it's Chloe."

"Driving your customers away?" he chuckled.

"It's not funny! She's been spreading weird rumors about the store being cursed and stuff! Guess what else did?"

Raze cradled his chin in his hand, "Decided to have some fun at your expense?"

Ulrika nodded and huffed angrily, "She said she'll use one of her incantations to reel in some customers." She waved her hand angrily around the room, "You see any?"

Raze shook his head, "Why'd you let her in the first place?"

"I didn't! She did it without my permission!" she smacked her hand angrily at the table.

"Uh…scary…" Uryu looked up at Ulrika with wide eyes.

"Sorry…" she picked Uryu up and gave him a tight hug.

"UH!! It hurts!" She placed Uryu back on top of the table and turned back to face Raze, who stared at them with a raised eyebrow.

"So? How about you Raze? How's miss fancy pants?"

Raze paused for a moment before answering slowly. "Ah, well actually, I moved back with the old geezer. But the last time I heard from them was about a month ago. They seem to be doing fine…well, at least that's what Whim tells me."

Ulrika blinked, "Oh? You moved back with your grandfather? Why?"

Raze smiled, "Well, some things happened and-"

"OH NO MISS!!" Pepperoni thundered towards the three sitting at the table, arms flailing wildly, "It's terrible!"

Ulrika glared at him, "Did you drop the dragon horns into the Knowledge Soup again? If you did I'll ki-"

"No, the- and the- it's- a- it's!"

Ulrika stood up and grabbed his arm stilling him, "What. Happened."

Pepperoni paled, "Fire."

"WHAT?"

"The Sutakusu Weeds…they're all ruined, I accidently dropped them into the fire." Pepperoni nervously twiddled his fingers.

"Then replace it with Yubana fruits or Golden herbs!" she snapped angrily.

"We're all out."

"You have got to be joking! We need the Forest Soup done by tomorrow!"

"Sorry Miss, I'll go to the Millennium Forest right now!"

Ulrika grabbed his arm, "No, you stay. I'll go get them myself."

"What?! By yourself?! I can't let you do that Miss!" Pepperoni cried, alarmed.

Raze, who was watching the scene unfold, was quite amused. That is, until he felt the fairy-in-training stare at him.

"Mister! Please, can you go with Miss? It's not safe for a girl to go by herself to the Millennium Forest alone."

Ulrika scoffed, "Who do you think you're talking to, I can take on those monsters on my own."

Pepperoni simply ignored her and continued to beg Raze to accompany her.

"Ugh, fine. Why do I always get dragged into these messes?"

Ulrika rolled her eyes, "You agreed."

Raze ran his hand through his hair annoyed, "How far is it from here?"

Ulrika tapped her chin, "About two hours I think, we can get back using the Wings of Icarus." Raze looked at her incredulously. "You still have that? Aren't we supposed to return those after graduation?"

"Um…I forgot?"

Raze rolled his eyes, "Answering a question with a question? Way to lie."

Ulrika scowled and poked his chest annoyed, "Look. Let's just go now; the faster we get the Sutakusu Weeds, the faster you can go home alright?"

Raze sighed, "Yeah, I know. But…"

"Now what?" She scowled tapping her foot impatiently.

"When we get back, I want to talk to about something."

"Huh? Uh, sure?" she looked up at Raze, slightly confused.

He nodded and walked briskly out the door, "Come on."

"Hey wait up!" she turned to Pepperoni and Uryu, "Alright you two, I'm going now."

Pepperoni thumped his chest proudly, "Just leave everything to me!" Ulrika rolled her eyes.

"Bye-bye Uwuwika, Wazewuxe."

"See you guys later. Do not leave the soup unattended alright?" She waved and jogged out the store.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time the pair arrived at the entrance of the Millennium Forest, the sun had already started to set.

Ulrika sighed, "Darn, that took longer than I thought, come on let's get this over and done with." Raze nodded, "I'll lead, just follow me." Ulrika rolled her eyes, but said no more.

Raze began to walk off the path into the shade of trees, "Where are you going?" Ulrika watched him oddly. "Like you said, let's get this over and done with. I really don't want to fight all those monsters, especially at this time with only the two of us." Raze answered without bothering to turn around. Ulrika hesitated. Raze stopped and turned to give her an irritated look, "Are you coming or not?"

Ulrika scowled, "'Course I am!" Raze shrugged and stepped into the shadow of the trees with Ulrika right behind him.

Raze watched the path occupied with monsters while manoeuvring swiftly through the thick undergrowth, he did check on Ulrika once in awhile to make sure that she was still behind him. Ulrika certainly didn't want to seem like such a burden, so she would glare at him when he did his usual shoulder check to see if she was still there in one piece. "I'm fine Jerktown, don't worry about me."

He still turned to check on her albeit more discreetly.

It wasn't long before they were near the first ladder. Raze put up his hand and stopped her as he checked carefully around the area before taking her hand and running towards the ladder.

"Alright, hurry up and climb the ladder." Ulrika looked at him like he was mental, "Excuse me?" Raze had started to look agitated "Climb up the ladder, hurry before the monsters see us."

Ulrika's face reddened, "N-no way! You go first!"

"Why the hell would I go first? What if something jumps out and attacks you?"

"I can defend myself just fine thank you very much."

Raze just rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Why does it matter anyways?" he grumbled and began to climb the ladder, "Annoying girl."

"I'm wearing a skirt you pervert." She screeched up at him angrily. He scowled and climbed up faster, "Like I'd ever peek at someone like you."

"You Bastard!" She immediately covered her mouth and turned her head, a few monsters had heard her screaming and started to head towards the ladder, "Crap!" she immediately started climbing up the ladder. When she had reached the top Raze grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the next ladder, "Good job there, now the monsters know we're here. Why can't you practice your lung exercises where it's not infested by monsters?" Ulrika glared at him, cheeks reddening, "It was an accident!"

* * *

"Finally!" Ulrika collapsed in front of a patch of Sutakusu Weeds. Raze threw a bag at her, "Hurry up and grab some, I'll keep watch." Ulrika nodded and started to gather as much as she could while picking out the unusable ones. As she worked, Raze kept his back turned towards her and watched for any monsters.

"Hey, Raze?"

"What?"

"You said you want to talk to me about something...can't you tell me now?" Ulrika asked while not looking up from her work.

Raze hesitated, but did not turn, "It's...something I feel more comfortable talking about in a safer location." Ulrika looked up from her work with a raised eyebrow, but decided not to say anymore. Raze let out his breath that he didn't realize he was holding. It wasn't that it was an inappropriate thing to ask at the moment or anything, he just wasn't sure what her reaction would have been if he had asked now.

"Alright! I'm done, let's get out of here." Ulrika quickly tied the bag shut and handed it to Raze, who placed it carefully in his jacket pocket. Ulrika dug around her small side bag and pulled out her Wings of Icarus. Holding it tightly in one hand, she offered her free one to Raze. Raze looked at her hand oddly and then looked up at her face with a confused look. Ulrika rolled her eyes, "Give me your hand. Since we only have one Wings of Icarus, we'll have to hold hands until we get back to the store." Raze nodded and took her hand in his, "Figures you would know something like that. Do you always rely on Chloe to take you back like this to." He smirked at her, Ulrika pinched his hand. "Shut up Jerktown!" There was a rustle of wind and the next thing they knew, they were standing in front of the store, 'Uryu's General Store' painted in fading red paint hung proudly on top of the store.

Ulrika smiled, "Uryu! Pepperoni! We're back!" she yelled loudly, and the two entered the store.

* * *

A/N: Future chapters will probably be as short as this. Unfortunately, I don't have as much time to work on fics as I used to. Thanks for the comments and to the people who read this.


	3. Chapter 3

Ulrika sighed loudly as she pushed the door to the store open, "Hurry up and finish it already…" Raze took the bag out of his pocket and handed it to Pepperoni. Ulrika slowly sat down in a chair, Uryu flew towards her and plopped himself on the table in front of her.

Peppersoni nodded and quickly walked to the back room, but he stopped at the door and turn towards the pair, "I have dinner ready for you two, do you want to eat now?"

Ulrika waved her hand lazily, "Sure, sure…" He nodded and disappeared into the backroom. "Well?"

Raze looked at her strangely, "Well what?" She ran her hands through her blonde hair, "You wanted to ask me something?" Raze nodded and sat down, facing Ulrika.

"I need a…favor." He asked calmly. Ulrika sat up with a curious look, "What kind of favor?"

"Let me work here."

Ulrika gaped at him, "Wha-why?!"

"It's complicated."

"That's not a reason! If you need money, why don't you go back to working for Miss Fancy Pants? You won't get much working here."

"I don't need money."

"What? You want me to hire you but not pay you?"

Raze started to look a bit annoyed, "It doesn't matter, I don't need money but I also-"

"Miss!"

"What?!" Ulrika turned angrily and glared at Pepperoni, "Can't you see we're busy here?" She turned back to facing Raze, who had an emotionless look on his face.

"But-!"

"What now?"

"I've been calling you for a while now! Do you want to eat or not?" Pepperoni whined, holding up a tray of food. Raze rolled his eyes and took the tray from Pepperoni, "Thanks."

Ulrika tapped her chin with her index finger, "How long have you been standing there?"

"Hm? Well, from the part you said that we didn't make much money…"

Ulrika stood up and dragged the giant fairy to the corner of the store.

"What do you think?" She whispered urgently.

"What do you mean Miss?"

"Should I hire him? Don't you think it's weird? He's not asking for money either."

Pepperoni shrugged, "He's not a money grubber like you I guess."

Ulrika slapped his arm, "You shut up!"

Pepperoni didn't even flinch from the contact, "Uh, well, maybe he just wants to do something nice for you!"

Ulrika looked at him like he was crazy, "Why the hell would he do that?"

"He probably really likes you…?"

Ulrika closed her eyes, annoyed, "Stop that thought."

Pepperoni twiddled his fingers, "Well, I think you should listen to his reasons for wanting to work here first."

Ulrika sighed, "Well, I have a feeling that he doesn't really want to tell me."

Pepperoni paused, and said with a goofy grin, "Miss! That's the first time I heard you say something so perceptive!"

She glared at him angrily, "Shouldn't you be taking care of the forest soup?"

Pepperoni paled and thundered to the back room, before Ulrika stopped him, "When you're done, put it into storage and go to bed. I'll clean up later." Pepperoni nodded and ducked back into the cramped room.

Ulrika sighed and went back to the table; Raze didn't look up, but he continued to spoon soup into his mouth.

"Anything else you want to say?" Raze stopped eating and put his spoon down.

"I need a place to stay too."

Ulrika nodded, "You can stay in the spare room."

Raze stared at her, "So you'll let me work here?" Ulrika shrugged, "Yeah sure, doesn't matter."

Raze nodded, "Thanks."

Ulrika stared at him for a moment, "Why are you asking me anyways? Can't you go find your friends and ask for help?"

"You ever tried staying over at Et and Enna's place?"

Ulrika shook her head, "No." Raze sighed, "You would want to avoid that." Ulrika stopped and though for awhile, "Yeah, you're right. Why not Miss Fancy Pants then? I'm sure she'd love to have you serving her again" she said with a grin.

Raze frowned, "I can't, they have done enough for me and the old man."

Ulrika looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Ok? So, it's alright to bother me? I thought you couldn't tolerate me? You said I was annoying."

Raze rested his chin in his hand and looked away, "Yeah, you are…but despite that, I think you and I work well together." He muttered, a bit of pink coloring his cheeks.

She stared at him with wide eyes, before a mischievous smile graced her face, "What was that? I couldn't hear you, can you say that again?" she asked in a sing song voice.

Raze glared at her, "You heard me, I think you're annoying."

"No you didn't."

"So you did hear what I said."

Ulrika laughed, "Yeah well, that doesn't answer my question Raze. I'm not like Lily; you can't flirt your way through me!"

Raze looked at her oddly, "Huh?"

Ulrika smiled, "Never mind, just finish your food. One rule I have around here is that anyone who has food left over will die. I'll see to it."

He smiled, "Fine."

The two finished their food in silence, Raze feeding his leftovers to Uryu when Ulrika wasn't looking.

"Hey, didn't you say you were going soon though?"

Raze nodded, "Yeah, I need to go get some things from home first."

Ulrika frowned, "Well, do it tomorrow. It's late."

Raze rolled his eyes, "Fine."

She smiled and nodded, "Good, now help me clean up."

Raze faked a yawn and quickly got up from his seat, "Oh, look at the time, better get to bed, I'll be gone early in the morning." And with that, he hurried up the stairs with a giggling Uryu leading the way.

"Hey!" she watched them scurry up the stairs, and with a huff, started picking up plates.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys, work load is piling up and I have a research paper due this week. Next update probably won't be for a while.


	4. Chapter 4

Roze's POV

I sighed as I pushed some of my bangs out of my face, picking up a tray from the counter with white, flower decorated teapots and cups placed on top. Although Ulrika had allowed me to stay, I had to help out at the shop. Not that I complained, it wasn't too bad, but damn do those customers annoy me. Running the Bazaar at school was much easier. I set the tray down in front of two elderly women, who gushed about how cute and helpful I was. I tried not to roll my eyes at them, and plastered a smile on my face. I decided it was best if I not stay to long with them and hurried back to the counter where Ulrika was.

I was actually surprised with her. I didn't really think that she would be so...happy. I had been staying with them for almost three weeks, and instead of trying to break my neck, she's been whistling away for more than two whole weeks. I must have been staring to long because now she is glaring at me, I looked away. Unfortunately, there was a pair of girls giggling and batting their eyelashes at me. And that reminded me why Ulrika was even in such a good mood.

The days that I spent here seemed to rope in more customers into the shop, mostly of the female kind. Ulrika was pleased, and was more than happy to let me stay as long as I needed. That didn't really make me feel great, I was already pretty sick of having women flirting with me left and right. Working here was no different than working back at Miss Lily's mansion. The maid's would bat their eyelashes the same way those girls did, and some of the female customers stared at me in such a predatory way that reminded me disturbingly of Miss Lily. I sighed, running my gloved hands over my face. I just had to last another four more hours.

"Raze, you okay?"

I blinked and looked up at Ulrika's worried face, "What? Oh, yeah I'm fine."

"You sure? You look paler than usual." I shrugged, "Yeah, I'm fine really. Just thinking is all."

She looked at me unconvinced, but soon nodded slowly, "Alright, why don't you take your break. I think you really need it." I nodded and headed to the back room where Pepperoni was working diligently.

"Hey, I'm taking my break. I think you should go help Ulrika."

"Alright! Please watch the cauldron for me." He squeezed through the door way and left me to think.

I sat down on a stool placed near the cauldron and pinched the bridge of my nose with a sigh. I wonder how the old man is doing. I wonder how it was doing. The three of us had split up and I was left to find a safe place to hide on my own. I couldn't actually believe that I would decide staying at Ulrika's shop was safe. At all. I know that one of these days, the ridiculous fairy would blow the shop up. One of these days, Ulrika would seriously snap and murder us all in our sleep. Maybe one of these days, Uryu would go berserk again and wipe us all out. Why did I decide to come here again? I'm starting to re-evaluate how safe it was exactly to be here. I slumped in my seat annoyed with myself, and soon I had slipped into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

"Waze! Wakey!"

I groaned and batted the soft fluffy tail out of my face. "...what?"

"Dinnertime!" I immediately sat up, "What? What time is it?"

"It's Dinnertime!" Uryu cocked his head at me oddly, "Uwurika will be mad."

I stood from my seat and stretched my arms; wincing, I placed my hand on my shoulder. I hated when I slept funny. The two of us left the backroom to join the flamboyant fairy and the seething banshee.

"Just how long were you planning on sleeping you slacker!" so much for being in a good mood.

I decided it was best not to answer, I wasn't in the mood to dodge flying objects at the moment, so I simply shrugged.

She decided not to press on the matter thankfully, and with a huff, she sat in her chair and picked up a bowl of mash potatoes.

For now I was safe from getting an earful.

But as I stirred the thick stew in my bowl, an uneasy feeling still sunk into the pit of my stomach. I glanced up from my bowl to see Pepperoni inhaling his food, Uryu was chewing a carrot stick enthusiastically and Ulrika calmly spooning some mixed vegetables into her mouth. Guilt seemed to settle into my chest, causing me to shift in my seat uncomfortably.

I was bringing danger to them, and trouble was the last thing the three needed.

"...I'm not hungry."

The three looked at me oddly. Ulrika stared hard, "Are you sick?" she asked slowily, a frown forming slowily.

"I'm going to bed." I stood quickly and headed to my room, not looking her in the eye. I can feel her watching me as I hurried up the stairs.

The longer I stayed, the sooner they would find me. I can't stay any longer, I had to leave soon and find my old man, how could I have forgotten the plan?

The sooner I found that amulet, the sooner everything would end.

And maybe I can talk to her properly then.

* * *

A/N: So sorry for the long wait...life is a real drag, the next chapter may take a while.


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